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Ask the Experts: The exterminator

My house was built in the 1960s and has concrete floors. Every year we get ants, particularly in the kitchen, and this year the invasion has already begun. It starts in March and continues all summer, but seems worse in May. The ants appear to be coming up through the floor but I am not sure exactly where. What, if anything, can I do to eradicate the problem before the invasion begins in earnest? ETP, Dun Laoghaire

Ants live in colonies in underground nests. It is difficult to find the nest, but if you do so it is best to leave it undisturbed. If you try to break it up you will only disperse the ants, who will go off and create new nesting sites. Ants gain access to a house through cracks and crevices, usually in the floor, and once inside they will forage for food. They will spend